Final Score: Lions make it a game but can’t climb out of 34-27 hole to Packers

Detroit entered the house of horrors called Lambeau Field to meet a Packers team after a hard loss and Aaron Rodgers feeling like his fee-fees had been hurt by the media. That alone probably guaranteed a day of crap for the Detroit Lions.

First Half

The Packers scored all too easily to start the game. Eight plays was all it took, with anything not handed to Eddie Lacy burning the Lions in the middle of the field. Davante Adams was the first to find the end zone, putting the Lions on their back heel to start.

The Lions worked to answer, putting together a grinding eight-and-a-half minute drive over 15 plays. They struggled to get anything on the ground, finding a tough Packers wall and Theo Riddick unable to gain ground. However, Stafford would find his favorite targets just enough to keep getting first downs and push towards the end zone. That magic ran out on third-and-16, and the Lions were forced to kick a field goal.

The Packers started their next drive with good yardage thanks to a weird interpretation of an kick out of bounds penalties, and they got even better position when Jordy Nelson caught a 40-yard pass. Jordy Nelson would get the Rodgers strike again soon after for the second Packers touchdown.

It would probably have behooved the Lions to answer two touchdowns, but they instead went three-and-out on their next possession. Nevin Lawson then caught pass interference against a shot at the end zone, which let Richard Rodgers get the third Packers touchdown of the first half.

Maybe the Lions would get it going now! Stafford found Marvin Jones for a very pretty pass. Soon after Eric Ebron would try to reel in a pass, only to have it ripped out by Damarious Randall—it would go in the book as an interception. The Lions, mercifully, would stop the assault by the Packers and hold them to a field goal.

Dwayne Washington tried to get the Lions run game going, while Stafford looked to get back on the same page with Eric Ebron. For a while, the Lions were finally driving again. However, Stafford became unglued as the Lions neared the red zone and missed wide in third down. Prater came onto the field and, like Stafford, missed his shot. The Lions walked away with no points and a lot more dread. It took the Packers seven plays to do nothing more than they have done all day, which was to find the end zone. Jordy Nelson racked another six points for Green Bay.

The Lions, mercifully, found an answer before the end of the half. Stafford found Marvin Jones, who shed his defender and danced along the sideline for half a second before taking off to the races. After 73 yards, the Lions had their first touchdown on the day and made this game a little less dreadful.

Second Half

The Lions received the ball to start the second half, hoping to build off of the Jones touchdown and get back into this game in any capacity. Stafford repeatedly targeted Theo Riddick to move the Lions down the field. When it looked like Dwayne Washington had been stuffed on third down on the one-yard line, Caldwell elected to go for the end zone on fourth down. Stafford rolled out and found Anquan Boldin racing for the corner. The Lions were back within two touchdowns.

Although the offense was doing good things, the defense responded by letting big big Eddie Lacy run on them uninhibited. However, a holding call on the Packers destroyed a massive Aaron Rodgers first down scramble and pushed the Packers back far enough that they had to settle for a field goal.

On the next drive, the Packers apparently forgot how to cover Marvin Jones, as he accounted for a good chunk of the next drive. But a ticky-tack false start call on Laken Tomlinson forced the Lions back on what was a third-and-one, and, coupled with a sack on Matt Stafford, ended another drive with a Matt Prater field goal.

With a stop needed to get back into it, the Lions faced a tough job doing what hadn’t been done all day: forcing the Packers to punt. Pressure to Aaron Rodgers failed to get home, but Haloti Ngata forced him out of bounds on second down, putting the Packers in place to throw on third-and-8. Quandre Diggs broke up Rodgers’ pass to Randall Cobb, and the Packers punter finally had work to do.

Unfortunately, the Lions did nothing but go three-and-out. The Packers responded by going three-and-out themselves, but Green Bay dodged a huge bullet when Jacob Schum went up and grabbed an extremely high snap and got the punt off. The Packers brought pressure on Matthew Stafford, but with only four minutes to go, Stafford fired deep into the sky and Marvin Jones, alone on the end zone’s doorstep, found it. Suddenly, the Lions had made it a one-score game.

The Lions quickly got the Packers to third down, but Aaron Rodgers had all day to throw, and when he couldn’t find a receiver he had all day to run and find the first down. With the Lions burning timeouts left and right, Eddie Lacy picked up another first down, sealing the game and letting Green Bay take a victory formation.

Somehow, the Lions got back out of their predicament, but even that wasn’t enough. The Packers won in Lambeau against the Lions for the first time since 2014. Big accomplishment there.